‘We have to do better’: Loved ones heartbroken, demand change after Sunday mass shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Police have a suspect in custody following a shooting at E. 57th Street and Prospect Avenue that left three people dead and five others injured.
Police say they arrested a man in the 5300 block of Martha Truman Road in Grandview, Missouri.
The shooting Sunday morning killed two men and one woman. It also sent five other people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. People impacted by the event describe it as a war scene.
“All of a sudden, we just heard like it was World War II,” said Kenny Manning, whose son ed away due to the shooting.
A large group of people was gathered at an auto mechanic shop near 57th and Prospect that police say turns into an after-hours hangout where people go to party. Manning says he doesn’t think his son was targeted in the shooting.
“To my understanding, it was a mass shooting. People just shooting in all types of directions,” Manning said. “I don’t think they had any particular target, but it’s just another senseless killing. My son wasn’t the intended target. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Kansas City is on a record pace for homicides in 2023 and has been on that pace for some time. Another person impacted by Sunday morning’s violence told KCTV5 she is frustrated that nothing seems to change.
“Nobody is doing anything. It’s a constant thing,” she said. “It’s happening every weekend. Eventually, we are going to have to bury half of Kansas City.”
Near the auto mechanic shop, there is a sign that reads “ Only. Private Event.” KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas says any business that has after-hours parties without a permit should be stopped.
“We have rules for a reason,” Lucas said. “We try to make sure people have security for a reason. We make sure they get a license and the consent of their neighbors for a reason. That reason is this – that we should do everything to prevent every homicide in the city.”
Those affected by Sunday morning’s shooting will feel the impact for the rest of their lives. They say something needs to change.
“This is another senseless tragedy,” Manning said. “Our community, we have to do something. We have to do something, we have to do better.”
Mayor Lucas says as long as he is in office, he will do everything he can to make a difference.
“What I will not do until the day that I am done being Mayor of Kansas City, what I’ll never do is say, ‘That’s just the way it is. That’s just the Prospect that’s been around since I was a kid,’ because every life deserves more than that.
Police say the investigation is still ongoing – and that they are working on a case to present to prosecutors for charges.
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